30 All-Star Lessons

We feel privileged here at TG Towers to have interviewed hundreds of guitar greats over the years, most offering advice and, frankly, great wisdom that could potentially change the way you play the humble six-string. With that in mind, this month we’ve chosen 30 of our favourite slices of inspiration from recent times so you can learn from the stars in their own words. There’s a mix of rhythm and lead techniques and inspiring ideas to help you develop your playing and branch out into new musical pastures. Grab your guitar and let’s rock!

01 James Hetfield

Syncopation, drums and down picking

“When I pick up the guitar… I want to be the drummer. I’ve always loved playing drums, so it’s kind of what I’m doing on the guitar. I love syncopation, just unique drum beats so I’ve always incorporated that in. The percussiveness and the down picking, that’s something that just came through competition, really. ‘Hey, these guys are faster; I’m going to be faster!’. Goofy guy stuff like that, but at the end of the day it has its own sound. It’s like hitting a drum, it really is. There have obviously been influences that have shaped it somewhat. Listening to Scorpions… [Rudolph Schenker], I like that he’s just the rhythm guy. He’s not trying to be everything and he’s the best at what he did. At the time he was really percussive in a way. So yes, quite a few people have influenced it, but a lot of it is the drums. I’d say the key is hanging out with another guitar player that feels the same, and you’ll push each other.”

02 Molly Tuttle

Start crosspicking today

“I learned some songs that I liked to cross-pick with, White Freightliner Blues in particular. I learned that one, and then wanted to play it really fast, so working up the solos and the rhythm part on that one really pushed my cross-picking. I remember transcribing some David Grier solos, and there’s a lot of cross-picking there as well, so that helped me get more comfortable with skipping strings because he’ll play a low note on the sixth string and then cross-pick on some high strings. It’s really all over the place. So [my picking technique] was a combination of things: I didn’t really do many exercises and drills, it was just learning songs and tunes.”